The Oblivion Trials (The Astral Wanderer Book 3)

by D'Artagnan Rey

“Well, that’s where the trials are being held so that would still be the plan,” Jazai replied sarcastically.

  She nodded. “I only wanted to take a moment to enjoy the air and wind and see the sky.” With a small sigh, she took his hand. “It could be the last time we do.”

  He closed his hand as he envisioned Merri’s campsite. “True, but look at it like this…” The two disappeared in a flash of blue mana and reappeared at the camp. The boy looked at Merri’s body. Asla saw it a second later and stepped back in shock. “There are two less competitors to deal with now.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Jazai knelt to examine Merri’s remains as Asla collected their packs. “Man, look at all these scars on his body and the wound on his throat. Devol seriously did a thorough job,” the apprentice whispered as he noted the puddle of blood and his gaze traced the deep gash in the shadow-user’s neck. He noticed the spilled contents of the man’s pack and the handful of signets that littered the ground. “What was even their aim?”

  “What do you mean?” the wildkin asked as she approached him and handed him his pack. “They were thinning the competition out. You said so yourself.”

  “Right, and I still think that was a part of it,” he agreed as he slipped his pack on. “But when you think about it, the poisoner’s trick only worked because of how he was positioned so he could hide in that building. He could make a thick fog but you had to be relatively close for the poison to take effect quickly. We walked around in that fog for a while and it didn’t noticeably affect us.”

  “That may have been deliberate,” Asla responded and looked at where the spots had manifested on her arm. “If we had seen them sooner, we would have immediately started to look for him. I’m sure that the closer you were, the more you were doused and the faster the poison worked. But since we were so far, maybe he tempered it even more so as to not arouse suspicion.”

  “Agreed, and this bastard…” Jazai sneered at the body beside him. “He could control a person by drinking their blood. It’s frightening in a one-on-one fight, but if there is some kind of battle component to the trials—like a mass battle—his ability wouldn’t be particularly effective in that situation.”

  “I do not think either of them was exactly of sound mind,” the wildkin responded and folded her arms. “I agree that given those weaknesses, they might not have progressed far depending on what the trial has in store, but that’s the point, isn’t it? Weeding out magi and other adventurers as much as finding more members for the marks?”

  “Surely it doesn’t take this long to get your belongings?” The two friends looked up at where Devol perched atop the building behind them. He jumped down and handed Asla her medicine bag. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yeah. We’re merely making small talk,” Jazai responded and looked at Merri again. “Was he even a healer?”

  The swordsman frowned at the body and shrugged as he walked past it and into the alley. “Of a sort, I suppose. It doesn’t matter now.” His two friends shared a look before they followed him. When they exited, they all studied the map to confirm the best route to reach their next destination.

  It took very little time to reach the entrance of the caves. Devol removed his pack and dug inside to retrieve a small lantern. He lit it with a tiny spark of mana and attached it to the pack before he shrugged into it again. “Well, this is it. We should keep together from now on.”

  “No kidding.” The other boy held his palm up. “Illumination.” A small orb of light appeared in his hand. They both looked at Asla, who simply pointed to her cat eyes to remind them that she’d be fine in the darkness of the caves.

  “Do either of you need to rest before we go on?” the swordsman asked.

  His two friends shook their heads firmly. “I brought a mana potion from Zier’s office,” the diviner told him. “Unfortunately, he only had the one, but we’re replenished enough between that and the rejuvenation potion from earlier. What about you?”

  “I’m fine,” he assured them and drew a deep breath. “Very well, then. Into the depths we go.” With one final look at their surroundings, they walked the remaining short distance down the street toward the caves and the darkness that awaited them.

  Their first hour of exploration was rather uneventful but they all gained a better understanding of the scope of the mining operation that had taken place in the caves in the years when it had been active. The caverns were massive with smooth walls. The beams and pillars that held up certain sections were made of metal, and they found the remains of cart tracks and custom-built stairways hewed into the rock.

  Thus far, they had yet to encounter another person and the few creatures and critters they did come across seemed more bewildered at their presence than hostile and scurried away when they walked past or shined a light on them. Though they ran quickly through caves for the first fifty minutes or so, they had begun to slow and maneuver carefully through the passages now that they were deeper in and the areas grew a little rougher.

  Jazai studied the map, then looked around and tried to compare the demarcated area with what he physically saw. “It looks roughly similar,” he confirmed and rolled it again. “I should probably have realized that the map would be older. There wouldn’t be too many reasons to update it since no one but bandits and tomb raiders bother to go through here nowadays.”

  “Maybe we could simply port around?” Devol suggested. “Those council members were able to teleport back to…wherever. I assume the nocaloc cavern.”

  The diviner shook his head. “You can teleport without knowing the specifics of your destination, but that’s not a good choice, especially in a confined area like this. If I decided to teleport two hundred yards left and one hundred feet down, I might end up in another passage but could also be stuck in a wall.”

  “Couldn’t you simply teleport yourself out if that happened?” he asked and earned a somewhat frustrated look from his friend.

  “The thing about flesh is that it doesn’t like to be squished.” He sighed and replace the map in his pack. “If you teleport into a wall or deep into the earth, your body and the earth kind of mash together and turn you into a splat. I’ve heard some evocation specialists are able to phase their body in some fashion to counter this but I haven’t learned how to do that for myself, much less on others.”

  Devol scratched his head. “That’s a fair point.” He rolled his shoulders and jumped up and down for a moment. “I guess we’ll have to push through again until we—”

  “Do either of you hear that?” Asla asked and her ears stood straight up.

  The two boys stood motionless and listened intently but they heard nothing. A moment later, however, the swordsman felt a small rumble beneath his feet. “It sounds like something is pounding the ground.”

  “It could be a burrowing creature,” Jazai suggested and crouched to press a hand on the ground. “There are cavern wurms in this system with an average length of twelve to twenty feet and four or five feet in height—nasty little buggers.”

  “I hear something moving.” The wildkin walked forward a few feet. “And cracking as well like rocks being hammered together.”

  “A cave-in?” Devol frowned at the thought.

  “I hope not.” Jazai moved beside her. “Which way?” She pointed down the passage and he bit his lip. “Damn it. We have to go that way. I don’t think there’s an alternative route unless we retrace our steps and go all the way around to the other entrance.”

  “We should at least take a look,” the swordsman stated and pressed on. “It could simply be the rocks settling or something.”

  The other boy sighed and threw his hands up. “I’m very sure that’s not how rocks work but all right. Keep us informed of anything you pick up, Asla.”

  The three continued down the passage to where a wide opening led into a massive domed cavern with three other large passages on the other side. Devol walked in a little farther and skirted a group of stalagmites before he tripped and
almost fell into a massive crater. When he regained his footing, he looked inside, gasped, and backed away.

  “What’s wrong?” Asla asked and ran closer. She echoed his gasp when she realized that the battered remains of a person sprawled inside the crater.

  When Jazai saw it, he turned away hastily. “That’s unsettling—and no wurm did that. They devour their prey.”

  “He was flattened.” Devol groaned and his gaze settled on cracks around the crater and in the ground. “And something made that crater recently.”

  “Probably while pummeling that sorry fool.” The diviner extended his hand to Asla. “Is this where you heard the noise?”

  She nodded, grasped his hand, and hurried away from the crater. “Yes, but with how big this chamber is and the caves as a whole, it could simply have been echoes from—” She was interrupted by an inhuman wail like the sound of something awakening after a long slumber. “What was that?”

  Devol drew Achroma and slid his pack off as Jazai held his hands up and Asla brought her claws out. Their animas flared as one. The noise continued and reverberated around the cavern. The apprentice looked at one of the ridges and pointed. “There! A stone golem.”

  His teammates focused on a large figure now visible there. The being was made of stone and carved in intricate patterns. It stared at them—or at least its head faced in their direction as it had no eyes to speak of, merely a large orb in the center of what would be its face. The ground shuddered and drew his attention to the passage in from of him, where two other stone giants shambled toward them. “We have two more this side.”

  The diviner nodded. “They must be security left from the mining operation. Someone probably either activated them deliberately on their way through to slow others or did so accidentally and they’ve wandered around ever since.” He looked at the crater. “Well, we know what happened to him.”

  “Let’s make sure it doesn’t happen to us,” Asla stated firmly as her eyes darted repeatedly to each of the three golems.

  “We should be all right. They are strong and tough but slow and one of the most basic golems. It’s not like they can get the drop on—” The being on the ridge broke a large stalagmite off, aimed it at the three, and prepared to launch it. “Well, shit.”

  “Scatter!” Devol ordered and they darted, ported, and leapt away as the golem hurled its makeshift spear and it smashed into the cavern floor. The swordsman stopped abruptly when he realized he stood in front of the two rock golems that emerged from the passage. Both swung their stone fists back and stepped forward to crush him.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Devol drew his blink dagger hastily, tossed it behind the two golems, and teleported to it seconds before their attacks transformed him into the same mush as the magi they had found moments before. They attempted to turn toward him but Asla and Jazai had joined the fight. The wildkin vaulted up and planted her feet on the chest of one to drive it back with a forceful kick, if only a few steps.

  “I don’t think brute force is the way to go here,” the diviner quipped and held his ringed fingers up. “Let’s see how they like a dozen missiles all aimed at them.” The rings shimmered for a moment before a load of mana missiles launched from his hand. They all homed in on one of the beings and drove into their target in rapid succession. Unfortunately, they bounced off immediately and showered the young swordsman.

  “Jazai, what the hells?” he shouted and deflected one of the missiles with the side of Achroma’s blade before he blinked away again with his dagger.

  “I did not consider that there might be magic resistance!” the apprentice shouted and blinked to Asla, who attempted to dodge his redirected attack. He held a hand out. “Shield.” A barrier formed quickly and the final two missiles thunked into it.

  Devol held his blade up and prepared to engage the two golems again when he noticed a shadow growing around him. Realization dawned immediately and he lunged forward and rolled as the third being landed, having fallen or leapt off the ledge.

  The wildkin bounded forward and her mana glowed brightly around her claws and she slashed the legs of one of the golems as she raced past it. She hissed in sudden pain and looked down. Blood coated her fingers and a glance at her adversary confirmed only small gouges in the side of its leg.

  It turned to strike and pounded its leg down but she hopped out of the way, vaulted on top of it, and kicking off against its head to land near Jazai. “My mana is still recovering.” She sighed and shook her hands. “I can’t deliver enough damage to do anything against these creatures.”

  “Well, they are made of stone,” he responded sarcastically and earned an annoyed glare from her. He raised his hands and enveloped them in mana. “Missiles don’t work so I guess I’ll simply have to keep firing on the damn things to see what gets through.”

  “Wait,” she ordered, looked at his hands, and focused on the golems again. “Do you think you can use that transmutation spell from the training?”

  “Which one?” he asked before a quick look at the approaching rock men made him smile. “It’s worth a try, certainly.”

  Devol had made some progress and inflicted large gouges in the golem he faced. It continued to kick and throw large rocks at him that it would simply take from the dirt below it as it waddled toward him. He began to realize, however, that he was doing little more than painting it. The being didn’t appear to feel pain so his small wounds didn’t slow or weaken it. He would have to either crush it or shatter it if he wanted the victory.

  Before he could begin to consider how he might accomplish this, it distracted him completely when it planted its hands on the ground and yellow mana coursed around its palms. Earthen spikes protruded suddenly from the surface in a trail toward him and forced him to leap over them and catch hold of a stalactite above.

  It broke one of the spikes off and raised its arm to throw it at him. He pulled himself up slightly to plant his feet on his somewhat precarious perch and prepared to jump off as Achroma began to glow and the blade widened. It threw the rocky spear at him and he leapt off moments before the projectile struck.

  His jump had taken him closer to the ceiling and he spun and pushed off it to launch himself at the golem. He grasped his sword tightly as he drove the blade into it and the magic rippled out and forced it to the ground when the mana released in an explosive burst. The blast shredded whatever magical armor it had and ripped it apart.

  Unfortunately for him, it also seemed to tear the ground itself apart, and he went from a pure white light into a deep, dark abyss.

  Devol yanked Achroma out of the chunk of rock from the golem’s chest and quickly pointed it forward and extended the blade through the new space until it pierced a wall and allowed him to slow his descent as the rocks crashed into a watery ravine below. He retracted the blade so he was close to the wall, which he used to slide to the floor of this new expanse.

  “Devol, are you all right!?” the wildkin’s concerned voice asked in his mind. “What happened?”

  He retrieved his a-stone and grimaced at the dust around him. “I fell in a hole.”

  “I think we realized that,” Jazai retorted. “She meant what happened with the golem. There was a bright flash behind us and we heard something crack, and you and it were gone and replaced by a big hole.”

  The swordsman pulled Achroma out of the wall. “I tried to flood it with my mana to see what kind of reaction I would get or if I could overpower the magical armor. I ended up blowing it up.”

  “Not a bad outcome,” the other boy complimented.

  “Do you need assistance?” Asla asked.

  “I should ask you guys that,” he replied as he looked at the pile of rocks that was once the golem. “My opponent seems to be taken care of but you guys are still dealing with yours, right?”

  “If it was a problem, we would be too busy to talk at the moment, no offence to you,” Jazai said cheerfully. “Asla had a smart idea. I liquified the golems with a cantrip. It slows them so
Asla can inflict some real damage. Their resistance to magic does slow the process, but they can’t stop it outright. They are tenacious bastards, I’ll give them that.”

  “Nice work.” Devol sheathed Achroma and looked at the hole above him. “I think I can make it up but it would be nice to have a higher launch point.”

  “If worse comes to worst, I can blink you up,” the other boy reminded him. “Why not use your dagger?”

  He almost smacked his forehead in irritation. “Oh, yeah. That’s a good idea. I’ll be up in a moment.” He put the a-stone away and reached for his dagger but it was missing. His first thought was that it had been knocked out during the fall. It wasn’t a problem, necessarily. Even if he didn’t know where it was, it should still be close enough for him to port to it. He extended a hand and closed his eyes while he felt for its magic. Once he connected, he was pulled to it instantly and he opened his eyes and realized to his surprise that he was deeper in the cavern where the water was knee-high. He frowned as he tried to think of an explanation for how had it fallen that far from where he had been.

  As he reached into the muck to retrieve his dagger, he heard loud, slumbering breathing and froze. Something was down there.

  Devol snatched his dagger and moved to the cave wall. He pressed against it and slid closer to the hole in the wall. When he leaned into the cavern, he could make out a large shape that rested atop a pile of some kind at the far end. With slow caution, he inched closer to the beast, alert for any others around, but it seemed this one liked its solitude.

  He now stood only about ten yards away. It was massive and even in its curled, sleeping state, it seemed bigger than he was. His scrutiny revealed gray fur with black and white patches, and when he took a few more steps forward, he noticed deep claw marks around its face, snout, and on the front legs. It had certainly seen some fierce fights.

  This was a likan and one of the biggest he had ever seen. What separated them from dire wolves was their ability to walk on their hind legs as well as all fours, and they could be both feral and eerily intelligent depending on the breed. This one here baffled the young magi, however. They were known to inhabit woodlands and swamps, and while some had been reported in caves, they wouldn’t usually make them their domain.